Iloilo – Bacolod Day 1 (Arrival – Staying at Go Hotels Iloilo)

Dubbed as the “Heart of the Philippines”, Iloilo is located at the Western Visayas Region on Panay Island and is an hour of travel by plane from Manila. It is mostly known for its Spanish-era architecture and scenery.

Now this trip was rather spontaneous for me, Shiela and Sheila and would actually be our first out-of-town trip together. For this, we took Cebu Pacific’s 8:35 pm flight from Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Iloilo International Airport. The last time I went to Terminal 3 was during our company’s team building event in Boracay. Back then, a large part of the area was under renovation and the place had very little places to dine in and shops were scarce too.

Now, waiting at NAIA terminal 3 doesn’t feel as boring as before; and while there are still some parts under renovation, the newly renovated terminal feels like a mini-shopping mall. Based off my memory, one can grab food and drinks at Shakey’s, Pancake House, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, CBTL, and at their very own food court. You can also shop for last minute things that you might have forgotten because there are apparel, shoes, electronics and cosmetic shops as well.

After taking a look around, we went to Cebu Pacific’s kiosk (right in front of their counter) to check ourselves in and to choose our seats. If you are only bringing hand-carry luggage with you, this option is the best as it allows you to bypass the processing at the counter. Once this was done, we went for dinner and waited to board our flight to Iloilo.

Upon arrival, hailing a taxi from the airport to anywhere would cost at least P500. It is pricey but unless you know anyone from the area, that might be your only choice. Going by group would be your best bet and since there were 5 of us, we only had to pay P100 each.

Because it was already late at night, we went straight to Go Hotels Iloilo after dropping off a friend of ours at a different hotel. From the airport, it was around an hour of travel by car.

Go Hotels Iloilo is conveniently located right next to Robinson’s Place and is near Starbucks and a 24-hour convenience store. It is also quite close to the port from Iloilo to Bacolod since that’s how we will be travelling for the next 2 days.

Our stay at Go Hotels Iloilo was quite nice. The place was clean and had a very strategic location. The receptionist was also nice and helpful. However, they only provided the bare necessities such as the towel, one packet of shampoo and soap, although that much is a given since it’s a budget hotel (complementary water wasn’t available as well). Nevertheless, you can buy the things you need at the nearby Mini-stop or at their reception. I think they had a toiletries kit for around P100.

After buying some things at Mini-stop, we chatted a bit to finalize our plans the following day and decided to call it a night.